Finalists for the "Green Log Awards" were recently announced.

The GREEN LOG Home & Lifestyle Awards™ were created in response to the growing demand for green building solutions.

The goal of the awards is to locate and shine a spotlight on those companies and individuals who are enabling healthier homes and lifestyles. -- GREEN LOG Home & Lifestyle Awards

What this means for people like you and me is... a great list of environmentally-friendly log home products and suppliers!

So, if you're trying to make your currently log home more "green" or you'll soon be building your very own green log home, here are some companies that will make your life easier!

As I mentioned earlier, we recently picked out the 7 exterior doors we will be installing in our new log home.

Now I'll share the details of the doors we picked out, in case anyone's interested.

We have always known that we wanted to have an attached garage -- ideally, a basement garage -- in our new log home.

This wasn't going to be a problem when we were planning to build on a nicely sloped lot on Dale Hollow Lake. However, when we changed our mind and decided to build in Williamson County instead, the land wasn't nearly as curvacious.

For awhile, it wasn't clear as to whether we were going to be able to have a basement garage or not. But as it turns out, we can. In fact, we just received the final set of blueprints showing the detail for our attached garage in the basement.

While exploring our basement options, I learned a few things about the differences between attached garages vs detached garages vs basement garages. Here's what I found...

A few years ago, I saved this statement that I found in a magazine or online:

Log homes are stronger & sturdier and more likely to survive tornadoes & hurricanes, largely due to all of the inner-locking joints.

Unfortunately... I didn't write down the source. (It was long before I had this website.) So, I recently decided to do a little research in hopes of determining a log home's ability to withstand hurricanes and tornadoes.

On websites discussing common log home myths, I found this...

Log homes are stronger than conventional homes. This is almost completely true, because it's actually the massive log walls that provide strength. Even though other parts of a log home may not be as strong as the walls, the walls tend to hold everything together in times of storms or earthquakes. Source

And this...

Log homes have established a record of surviving other natural disasters in much better condition than frame houses. Ripped from their foundations by floodwaters, they've been known to simply float intact down the river. During Hurricane Hugo, a log home was the only Carolina beachfront home to remain standing. Florida log homes survived the destructive winds of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 with only minor damage, and in areas of utter devastation during recent California earthquakes, log homes were among the few dwellings that escaped major damage." Source (.pdf)

With hurricane season upon us (June 1 through November 30), I thought it might be worthwhile to see how well log homes fare under typical hurricane conditions.

John Anthony put together a nice little summary of what's hot and what's not in terms of home design and remodeling these days.

John's report was based on research he conducted for the National Association of Realtors.

When building a new home, you are investing a lot of hard work, time, and money.

But have you given any thought to just how long those things that you're installing are going to last? I have.

Recently the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) shed some light on the life expectancy of common components inside a home -- everything from appliances, cabinetry, and flooring... to roofing, plumbing, and HVAC.

Have a look...

Up until recently (after we attended the Nashville Log Home & Timber Frame Show), I hadn't thought much about the type of garage doors I wanted for our new log home.

Rather than color or style, I think my biggest concern to date has been whether to have one "big" door to accommodate 2 cars, or 2 individual doors -- one door per vehicle. I had always thought that was more of a personal choice than a design issue, but I recently learned that 2 garage doors (plus a third, utility door) are in our future. It mostly has to do with support and beam issues, and with the home as we've designed it upstairs, we will be required to have 2 separate doors on the garage which are off the basement downstairs.

Enter into the picture: The Great Northern Door Company!

Here's a growing list of the reasons that I look forward to moving out of a "traditional home" in a "traditional subdivision" and into a non-traditional home (a log home) in a non-traditional setting (on a lake).

See if you have the same subdivision pet peeves as I do...

Goodbye to this...

Fewer people are parking in their garage than ever before. The reasons for this are numerous. Not the least of which is the fact that today's families simply have bigger cars and more stuff.

As a last resort, families are using their garages as storage sheds, rather than for parking their cars.

Hindsight is 20/20... I would encourage you to plan now -- in the design phase -- so you don't find yourself second-guessing your new home's design later.

Log home or not, there were a number of things that I knew I wanted to include in my next home.

I started jotting them down on pieces of paper, and I stored them in the back of my idea notebook for the longest time.

Eventually, I transferred them all from chicken-scratched memos into my computer for permanent record-keeping and organization.

When it was all said and done, I organized each item by room within the house -- and placed that list in the appropriate section of my Idea Notebook. That way, when it came time to design the bathroom, for example, I had everything I needed all in one place -- our "wish list" right next to pictures and ideas I'd saved from magazines and websites, etc.

To give you an idea, these are some of the things that I wanted to try to incorporate into my next home...